


In A Heartbeat

by AhsokaLegend



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Father-Son Relationship, Found Family, Gen, Light Angst, ManDadlorian, Season 2 spoilers, The Believer - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28038645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AhsokaLegend/pseuds/AhsokaLegend
Summary: In the aftermath of “The Believer” Din reflects on the child and taking off his helmet.
Relationships: Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Din Djarin
Comments: 13
Kudos: 165





	In A Heartbeat

Quiet is his companion. Alone in the night-time shadows of Morak it surrounds him greater than ever before. Worse than before the child…

He feels the blaster pistol recoil as he lets off another shot sending the carbonite block flying. He’s lucky Boba had some scraps lying around for him to use as target practice.

If he had been on the Razor Crest he would have done something productive to keep his mind busy. There were always repairs to be made on his ship. It hadn’t been in great shape when it was destroyed... but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. 

He shifts to his right, eyeing the next offending block. Their plan is set; they head out in the morning for Grogu. He knows he should sleep. They’re headed into battle, and he won’t be much help tired. Yet every time he closes his eyes he sees them, those things that took Grogu. They taunt him, flying higher with each passing nightmare dragging his little body up into the atmosphere. 

_BANG_

Another piece goes flying where the bolt clips the carbonite. There’s too much on his mind for him to sleep. His ch—the child is missing, and it’s his fault. There’s too many ‘what if’s’, too many ways he could have been better. 

He reloads another charge pack. Usually Grogu would watch him when he works on his weapons. The kid loved target practice the most. He’d coo and giggle with each shot whether he hit the mark or not. One time he caught the kid eyeing a detonator leading to a serious conversation about what can and cannot be played with safely. He chuckles, there’s something about silver orbs that never fails to get the kid’s attention. The brief grin that crosses his face at the memory falls just as quickly. What he wouldn’t give to bring the child home…

That’s his line. Foundlings look out for each other; that is the Way. His clan of two, their survival depends on him now. He angles his head down at the mudhorn signet welded to his beskar. At this point, the kid is as bound to him as his armor—the armor he removed today. 

Out here in the forest near Slave I he can take off his helmet if he wanted. There’s nobody around to see him, but that’s not the point. He chooses to wear the armor because it matters to him. His helmet is not just a rule to protect him from enemies. The beskar tells his story, the story of his people. It carries their legacy and will continue to do so long after he has passed. It is his customs, his heritage, his Way. 

He lines up the next target, letting his breath even out as he thinks. Out of everyone he’s met since the kid entered his life only IG-11, Boba Fett, and to an extent Mayfield, have come close to understanding. The helmet is more than a part of him; it is him… and he would give himself over to death any day if it meant the safety of the child.

Had it been painful? 

_BANG_

Yes. 

Had he wanted to crawl back inside the moment it was off and never come out? 

_BANG_

Absolutely. 

Would he do it again? He lines up the final shot to his farthest target. In all of a second it falls to the ground, the sound of the blaster registering only after the bolt hits. 

For Grogu, he’d do it in a heartbeat.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the result of having no impulse control concerning “The Believer”. That mess hit way deeper than I was expecting, and now I’ve written a story in a day :)
> 
> This is my first time writing something this short or anything for the Mandalorian. Hope you guys like it!
> 
> tumblr: @ahsokalegend


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